Domains With Trademarks In Them: Not A Great Idea
Published on March 14, 2016
Published on Wealthy Affiliate — a platform for building real online businesses with modern training and AI.
Well, what I want to say is pretty simple: If you are thinking of buying a domain name with a trademark in it, my advice is to NOT do it. There are many examples of exceptions to the rule, but it's just safer not to. Remember, there are many examples of someone getting into big trouble (or small trouble) because of trademark and copyright infringement.
For example, ME!
As usual, I found this out the hard way. I currently own a few domains with trademarks in them. I bought them in my first year of doing affiliate marketing, and just didn't think about anything of it. The registrar allowed me to buy it, so I shouldn't have any problems, right? Wrong.
In 2015, I was contacted by Facebook about some of these domains which had the name Facebook in them. They said that I had to remove the websites and let the domains expire or face possible legal trouble.
Chances are, it was a bluff. There are thousands of "facebook" themed domains out there, and they can't possibly find them all or take all the owners to court. Especially those outside the USA. Also, they only asked about half of the domains I owned with "facebook" in the title, so they obviously didn't do their homework.
Well, these domains were not making any money for me, so taking them down wasn't a big deal. I did it, and there was no harm done. I haven't heard anything about it from them since.
But think of how much trouble it could have caused!
What if my websites were making money? Yes, I could move them to a new domain name, but it would be a big pain, and I might lose rankings along the way. Plus, I'd have to spend time and money rebranding my website, social media channels, etc.
Ready to put this into action?
Start your free journey today — no credit card required.
So, long story short, avoid trouble down the road by not using trademarks in your domain name.
QUESTION: Can I Use Trademarks In My Blog Post Titles?
ANSWER: YES
It's totally fine to have mywebsite.com/trademark-name-blog post. No one can stop you from using their business's name in the title of your post or page. Just the domain name.
Examples of trademarked domain names that seem to operate without consequence
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. How about these domain names that seem to brazenly infringe on big company names?
Who really knows. Maybe they drive enough traffic to the parent company that they get ignored. Or maybe company has bigger fish to fry at the moment and may take down the site later. I just wouldn't want to risk my business like that!
Rebranding A Trademarked Domain Name Into Something New
If you currently have a trademarked name in your domain name, you may want to consider rebranding early on. You don't have to do it, but just be aware of the risks. You can easily "move" your entire website with a single button click using Wealthy Affiliate hosting: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/websites
You can also buy a new domain name directly here in WA as well: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/websites/domains
I hope this helps! This question comes up a lot, so feel free to share this post with someone you think it could help in the future.
Share this insight
This conversation is happening inside the community.
Join free to continue it.The Internet Changed. Now It Is Time to Build Differently.
If this article resonated, the next step is learning how to apply it. Inside Wealthy Affiliate, we break this down into practical steps you can use to build a real online business.
No credit card. Instant access.